7 fighters from Division 30, including their commander, the defected Colonel Nadim Hassan, were detained by JaN as they entered Syria. The group was attacked at an HQ by JaN a few days later, and at least 5 more fighters were detained.

An unnamed Division 30 officer said that JaN is still holding 22 fighters from Division 30.

There are several theories as to why Turkish officials may have tipped off JaN, including:

Division 30 would form a vanguard for attacking hardline Islamist groups that Turkey works with, including JaN and Ahrar al-Sham.

The JaN attack on Division 30 also came shortly after US airstrikes hit the group.

Fatally crippling the program in the hopes of pushing the US into arming and training groups focused on fighting the Assad government, particularly those that work more closely with Turkey and which President Erdogan’s party is more ideologically aligned with.

Fighters participating in the train-and-equip program are only supposed to fight the Islamic State, not the government. This aspect of the program has been criticized by Turkey in the past.

Mustafa Abdi, a spokesman for the YPG, said “this incident not only embarrassed the Americans and made the Free Syrian Army programs look weak compared to Nusra, but also makes working with Turkey on their terms even more important.”

To help leverage the US into speeding up it’s training of rebels, which has been notoriously slow (there have so far only been 54 graduates in the $500 million program; other US programs have been similarly slow).

Zaman al-Wasl published a leaked internal document from Ahrar al-Sham’s General Command saying that it’s military wing will be reorganized into a structured army under the name of the Suquor al-Sham Brigades, which will begin accepting the enlistment of qualified men.

Fighters will be given $150/month and their families will be provided with rations.

Ahrar al-Sham issued a statement saying “The organization does not have any affiliation to any foreign parties including Al-Qaeda“, stressing their local origins, their ultimate goal of overthrowing the Assad government, and praising Turkey and Qatar’s aid to rebel groups.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the US State Department, said the US will be accepting between 5,000 and 8,000 Syrian refugees next year out of 15,000 that have currently been referred to the US by the UN.

Currently the US has taken in less than 1,000 refugees out of the over 3 million people who have fled to neighboring countries.

He also said that the US’s main focus is “helping to foster the kind of political transition inside Syria, so that it is a safe environment for Syrian people to return, including the millions that are seeking refuge in Turkey right now”.